Bit comfort is an important issue for me as well. It makes the difference between a daily smoker and a ceremonial pipe (for religious holidays and cleaning the attic).
Bad smoking pipes
- Thread starter rfernand
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I must have an underdeveloped palate, because most of my pipe have been good to great. Peterson has been my standby pipe--but my truly great pipe is The Vampire's Wand, designed to my specs and created by Stephen Downey. I'd pit this pipe against any.
This old Spitfire smokes as good as any pipe I own. I just picked up a buffer and am going to polish the bit, but the pipe has more fills than the subdivision behind my old home. I picked it up, in a group buy from Scotland off e-bay, back when I restarted smoking pipes. Just goes to show that there are good smokers out there for cheap, and looks may not be the # 1 thing in a good smoker. Of course having both never hurts. :wink:
http://i.imgur.com/inasgjJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/inasgjJ.jpg
What I early-on thought were bad pipes turned out to be my own bad technique. I've hardly encountered any bad pipes. It's hard to explain this to someone just starting, I think. As long as they go with any reputable brand (and not some knockoff from Amazon) they should be just fine. :
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I have 40 artisan pipes and everyone is an exellent smoker. I sold a Rad Davis Belge estate pipe that had real thin walls and I had to change my smoking cadence to keep it cool. I finally said to hell with me having to change my cadence so I sold it.
Other lemons was three gorgeous Peter Matzhold pipes I bought in 2000. I bought them all without smoking one of them because I am an idiot. All I could see was the grain and beauty of the pipes and the prices were so good. All three smoked wetter than shit so I got rid of them. I had a George Jensen pipe that smoked so hot I would get blisters on my fingers. I bought 2 pipes from a fairly new artisan that had the nastiest tasting and smelling vulcanite stems and got rid of them. I had never run into that problem in all my years of buying pipes.
I bought a Sasenie that had a stem that I literally could barely clench while I was lighting it, worst stem ever. I had a gorgeous Noring straight grain that wouldn't pass a pipe cleaner, I was so new I didn't check it and I bought it in person at Mom's in Manhatten. It smoked wet and I had no idea why. I ended up selling it. If anyone buying it knew how to fix it they got a great pipe. The only Ashton I bought was a wet smoker if I had sent it out for a repair it would have smoked fine. I still would have gotten rid of it because the stem sucked.
I bought a couple of older Lane Era Charatans that smoked hotter than hell. I have had my share of lemons over the years, but if I figured out the percentage it would be pretty low. I have smoked a lot of different pipes over the years and honestly most smoked real nice.
Other lemons was three gorgeous Peter Matzhold pipes I bought in 2000. I bought them all without smoking one of them because I am an idiot. All I could see was the grain and beauty of the pipes and the prices were so good. All three smoked wetter than shit so I got rid of them. I had a George Jensen pipe that smoked so hot I would get blisters on my fingers. I bought 2 pipes from a fairly new artisan that had the nastiest tasting and smelling vulcanite stems and got rid of them. I had never run into that problem in all my years of buying pipes.
I bought a Sasenie that had a stem that I literally could barely clench while I was lighting it, worst stem ever. I had a gorgeous Noring straight grain that wouldn't pass a pipe cleaner, I was so new I didn't check it and I bought it in person at Mom's in Manhatten. It smoked wet and I had no idea why. I ended up selling it. If anyone buying it knew how to fix it they got a great pipe. The only Ashton I bought was a wet smoker if I had sent it out for a repair it would have smoked fine. I still would have gotten rid of it because the stem sucked.
I bought a couple of older Lane Era Charatans that smoked hotter than hell. I have had my share of lemons over the years, but if I figured out the percentage it would be pretty low. I have smoked a lot of different pipes over the years and honestly most smoked real nice.
I have a Peterson Donegal Rocky that I would've put into the "poor smoker" camp a few weeks ago. The pipe is nostalgic for me in that it was my first brand name pipe. I love the look, the size, the feel, the weight, etc. But every time I smoked it it would smoke wet and I'd get a mouthful of bitter spittle. I could alleviate it by passing a pipe cleaner or two through it while smoking, but I didn't always have one handy and I just chalked it up to getting a dud. I bought it as an estate pipe and I figured that was probably why the original owner got rid of it.
But just a few weeks ago I decided to try some GL Pease Gaslight in the pipe. The tobacco is one I've had problems with too. I always thought I should love it but it was only OK for me and turned acrid and lifeless halfway through the bowl in every pipe I smoked it in. When pairing up the "subpar" pipe with the "subpar" tobacco I finally hit on the magic combination. That rescued it for me and I have to say now that I'm pretty happy with every pipe I own. A couple are exceptional, but none of them are bad.
But just a few weeks ago I decided to try some GL Pease Gaslight in the pipe. The tobacco is one I've had problems with too. I always thought I should love it but it was only OK for me and turned acrid and lifeless halfway through the bowl in every pipe I smoked it in. When pairing up the "subpar" pipe with the "subpar" tobacco I finally hit on the magic combination. That rescued it for me and I have to say now that I'm pretty happy with every pipe I own. A couple are exceptional, but none of them are bad.
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